Cleaning device

ABSTRACT

A cleaning device comprises a reservoir for containing a body of formable material in unfoamed state. Converting means is connected with the reservoir for receiving from the latter unfoamed material and for converting this into foamed state. Moving means mounts the reservoir and converting means for movement over a surface to which the material is to be applied in unfoamed state.

United States Patent Leifheit et al.

[451 Feb. 26, 1974 CLEANING DEVICE Inventors: Giinter 'Leifheit; Johannes Liebscher, both of Nassau-Lahn, Germany Assignee: Leifheit International Gunter Leifheit KG, Nassau-Latin, Germany Filed: July 10, 1972 App]. No.: 270,570

Related US. Application Data Division of Ser. No. 881,440, Dec. 2, 1969, Pat. No. 3,696,458.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 3,041,644 7/1962 Wallace 15/50 C 3,471,886 10/1969 Smith et a1 15/50 R Primary ExaminerEdward L. Roberts Attorney, Agent, or FirmMichael S. Striker 57 ABSTRACT A cleaning device comprises a reservoir for containing a body of formable material in unfoamed state. Converting means is connected with the reservoir for receiving from the latter unfoamed material and for converting this into foamed state. Moving means mounts the reservoir and converting means for movement over a surface to which the material is to be applied in unfoamed state.

9 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures CLEANING DEVICE CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This is a division of our copending allowed application, Ser. No. 881,440, filed on Dec. 2, 1969 and now U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,458.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to cleaning devices, and more particularly to an apparatus for producing and applying foamed cleansing materials.

It is already known to provide apparatus which moves over the surface of an article to be cleaned and applies to this article a foam-type cleaner, that is a cleaning substance which is applied in foamed condition. The problem with these known devices is the -fact that the conversion of the cleaning substance from unfoamed state into foamed condition provides significant difficulties. In order to obtain maximum cleaning effect without undesired side effects-that is without excessive wetting of the article to be cleaned it is necessary that the cleanser which of course is usually a liquid, be completely converted to foamed state so that the foam thus obtained is of almost dry consistency.

This, however, has heretofore been impossible to achieve with the apparatus known from the prior art and the industry has therefore long sought for an improvement which until now has not been forthcoming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide improved cleaning apparatus of the type under discussion.

More particularly it is an object of the present invention to provide such a cleaning apparatus which is not possessed of the aforementioned disadvantages.

Still more specifically it is an object of the present invention to provide such a cleaning apparatus which makes it possible to convert a liquid cleanser completely to foamed state, with the foam thus obtained being of almost completely dry consistency.

An additional object of the invention is to provide such an apparatus which is simple and relatively inexpensive to construct, but which is very reliable in its operation.

In pursuance of the above objects, and others which will become apparent hereafter, one feature of the invention resides in a cleaning apparatus which comprises, briefly stated, reservoir means for a body of foamable material in unfoamed state. Converting means is connected with the reservoir means for receiving from the latter unfoamed material, and for converting such material to foamed state. Moving means mounts the reservoir and converting means for movement over a surface to which the material is to be applied in foamed state.

Thus, by alternately compressing and subsequently relaxing the foam-producing element of the converting means, namely an absorbent resiliently compressible element, an intensive admixture of air with the liquid cleanser takes place, converting the same into a foam of near dry consistency.

According to one embodiment of the invention a hollow cylinder which is apertured over part or all of its circumference is provided, with the absorbent resilient compressible element being located on the interior and secured against movement with reference to the cylinder, and with one or several press rollers also being located in the interior of the cylinder and pressing against the absorbent element, with a movement between the pressure rollers and the hollow cylinder being, of course, a requisite in this case. With such a construction all portions of the absorbent element are successively compressed and relaxed and the foam can escape to the exterior through the apertures in the hollow cylinder.

A further embodiment of the invention provides for the absorbent element to be an endless preferably annular sheet material member. Such a sheet materialmember is supplied to the pressure rollers without any interruption and can advantageously be mounted on the interior of the hollow cylinder immovable with reference to the latter.

According to a preferred embodiment the hollow cylinder may be mounted stationarily at the housing of the apparatus and one or more pressure rollers may be rotated about its inner circumference in oppositedirections, depending upon the direction of movement of the apparatus. In this case other components of the apparatus, preferably wheels on which the apparatus is advanced, are connected in motion transmitting relationship with the pressure roller or pressure rollers to cause movement of the same. In this embodiment the pressure roller orbits about the inner circumference of the hollow cylinder.

A further embodiment of the invention envisions the arrangement of the hollow cylinder turnably mounted on the housing of the apparatus, with the absorbent element again being fast with its inner circumferential surface. One or more pressure rollers are then mounted at the interior of the hollow cylinder in axial parallelism therewith for rotation about their longitudinal axes, but without freedom of orbital movement. This is a very simple construction which is accordingly inexpensive. The pressure roller or pressure rollers may itself be hollow and mounted on a portion of a hollow shaft, with both the pressure roller and the hollow shaft being provided with apertures and with the hollow shaft communicating with the reservoir, so that liquid from the reservoir passes through the hollow shaft and out through the apertures of the pressure roller into the material of the absorbent element.

With the just mentioned construction it is not necessary to provide a separate supply pipe or conduit for the liquid to be foamed, and this of course again simplifies the construction of the device and reduces its expense. It is advantageous but not absolutely necessary that the hollow cylinder rolls with its outer circumferential surface directly on the material which is to be treated with the foam produced. ln this case the hollow cylinder itself acts as the foam applicator and obviates the necessity for a separate applicator member.

It is emphasized that if desired or necessary a separate supply conduit may be provided, a portion of which is then arranged in the space between the absorbent element and the pressure roller, or one of them if there are several, and which is apertured so as to discharge onto the absorbent element the liquid to be foamed. Such a construction has the advantage that liquid entering from the reservoir can be evenly distributed over the entire width-or rather axial lengthof the pressure roller.

The absorbent element may also be constructed in the form of a plurality of sections having a certain diameter, with drive discs located between and in contact with successive ones of the sections and having a diameter larger than the diameter of the sections. These discs may also serve for effecting the necessary compression of the sections of the absorbent element, in this case from opposite axial sides of the latter. For this purpose the discs may be axially inclined towards one another, for instance by mounting them and the sections of the absorbent element on a curved shaft.

Applicator rollers may be provided which are advantageously located immediately downstream of the areas where the absorbent element is subjected to compression, so that the applicator rollers carry away the foam produced in such areas for applying it to the article to be treated with the foam, before the foam can be reabsorbed in the areas where the absorbent element undergoes expansion. This has the additional advantage that in the areas which undergo expansion or relaxation, the pores of the absorbent element remain free to absorb air, rather than becoming clogged with the foam, so that this facilitates the production of better foam.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic cross-section through one embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially broken away top view of a fragment of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top view of a detail according to a further embodiment;

FIG. 3a is an end view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but illustrating yet an additional embodiment;

FIG. 4a is an end view of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section through an apparatus according to yet another embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing now the drawing in detail, and firstly the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that the apparatus as a whole is identified with reference numeral 10. It comprises a housing 11 which may consist of various different materials, for instance synthetic plastic or metal, and which is provided with a reservoir 12 containing a body 13 of cleaning liquid in unfoamed state, but which is convertable into foamed state. An opening 14 is provided through which the cleaning liquid 13 is introduced into the reservoir 12, and a conduit 15 connects the interior of the reservoir 12 with a stationarily mounted hollow cylinder 16 which is arranged at the front of the housing 11.

In the illustrated embodiment the upwardly facing wall portions of the cylinder 16 are provided with apertures 17. Located in the interior and secured to the inner circumferencial wall of the cylinder 16-for instance by adhesive means-is a circularly configurated absorbent element 18 of elastically compressible material. Cleaning liquid 13 passing through the conduit 15 into the interior of the cylinder 16 is absorbed by the material of the element 18. It will be appreciated that different materials are suitable for the element 18, but it is preferred that the material be a synthetic plastic open-celled foam material.

A pair of pressure rollers 19 and 20 are located in the interior of the hollow cylinder 16 and mounted with their opposite ends at two carriers 21 in such a manner that they are juxtaposed. The carriers 21 in turn are connected fast with a shaft 22 on which there are mounted the wheels 23 by means of which the apparatus moves over the surface of an article 27 to which foam is to be applied, in conjunction with the wheels 30 which are provided in the region of the reservoir 12. When the apparatus 10 is moved in left or right hand direction as seen in FIG. 1, the wheels including the wheels 23 turn and thus drive via the shaft 22 and the carrier 21 the pressure rollers 19 and 20. The distance between these and the inner surface of the hollow cylinder 16 is smaller than the thickness of the element 18 so that, when the pressure rollers turn, they press against the element 18 and subject incremental portions thereof to compression, which portions, as the rollers 19, 20 advance, are thereupon again allowed to relax. This alternate compression and relaxation of in cremental portions of the element 18 causes excellent admixture of the air from the pores of the element 18 with the liquid 13 which has been absorbed into these pores, thus producing an intensive development of foam of nearly dry consistency.

The foam is produced at the interior of the hollow cylinder 16, and passes through the apertures 17 to the exterior where it is guided through a channel 24 to the applicator roller 25 which is arranged adjacent the hollow cylinder 16 and which is covered at the upper side by a portion 26 of the housing. The purpose of the applicator roller 25 is to provide for uniform application of the foam to the surface of the article-here assumed to be a rug or carpetand for working the foam into the material of this article 27. The applicator and working-in effect may be further enhanced by providing the roller 25 with tufts of bristles, although as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, it is also possible to construct the applicator roller 25 of axially adjacent discs 28 or annuli of teeth 29.

Normally the apparatus will have a handle by which it may be gripped, for instance a handle analogous to a broom handle, but this has not been shown because it is not essential for purposes of the present invention.

A final further embodiment is illustrated insofar as necessary in FIG- 5. Here, a hollow cylinder 31 again carriers at its inner surface an absorbent element 18. The cylinder 31 is turnably mounted in a box-shaped housing 32. It is provided with apertures 33 and has located in its interior a stationarily mounted pressure roller 34, which is rotatable about its longitudinal axis but does not orbit about the inner circumference of the cylinder 31.

In this embodiment the pressure roller 34 is mounted on a portion of a hollow shaft 35 and the latter, together with the pressure roller 34, is provided with apertures-those of the pressure roller 34 being identified with reference numeral 37 through which the liquid 13 can pass to the exterior of the pressure roller to soak into or be absorbed by the absorbent element 18.

The shaft 35, or of course it interior, communicates with the reservoir 36 via non-illustrated conduits.

The hollow cylinder 31 is rolled over the article 27 to be treated, whereby the element 18 is incrementally alternately compressed and relaxed and the foam is produced. The foam passes through the apertures 33 to the exterior of the hollow cylinder 31. The latter in this embodiment serves as its own applicator so that the applicator 35 of FIGS. 1 and 2 is not required.

An additional or, if desired, alternate possibility for supplying the liquid 13 to the interior of the pressure roller is still illustrated in FIG. 5. Specifically, we have illustrated a pipe 38 located above the pressure roller 34 and being provided at its underside with apertures 39 from which the cleaning liquid drips onto the pressure roller 34 for transmittal by the same to the absorbent element 18 which then absorbs the liquid.

While several embodiments have been illustrated herein it is emphasized that other embodiments are readily possible and will offer themselves to those skilled in the art. For instance, the absorbent element may have different thicknesses, it may be provided with projections or recesses, or otherwise configurated. The number of absorbent elements, as well as of the various pressure rollers, may be varied in dependence upon the requirements, and the manner in which liquid is supplied and the supply of liquid is controlled amy also be varied. Of course, the arrangement of the reservoir, its configuration and the configuration of the housing may be changed at will in dependence upon various requirements.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a cleaning device, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended 1. A cleaning apparatus, comprising reservoir means for a body of foamable material in unfoamed state; converting means connected with said reservoir means for receiving from the latter unfoamed material and for converting such material to foamed state, said converting means comprising an apertured hollow tubular member having an inner side, a pressure roller member arranged in the interior of said tubular member in at least substantial axial parallelism therewith, at least one of said members being rotatable relative to the other, and at least one absorbent element confined between said pressure roller member and said inner side so as to undergo incremental compression in response to said relative rotation; and moving means mounting said reservoir means and said converting'means for movement over a surface to be cleaned, and operative for effecting said relative rotation.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said absorbent element is an endless sheet material element.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said endless sheet material element defines a circular annulus.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, said inner side being provided with an inner circumferential surface, and wherein said absorbent element is positioned on and secured to said inner circumferential surface.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said tubular member is stationary with reference to said reservoir means, and wherein said pressure roller member is mounted for rolling movement with reference to said tubular member.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 1; and further comprising at least one applicator roller contacting an outer side of said tubular element for distributing foamed material thereon.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 6, said applicator roller comprising a shaft, and a plurality of tufts of bristles projecting from said shaft transversely thereof.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein said applicator roller is composed of a plurality of axially adjacent disc portions.

9. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said tubular member is rotatably mounted; and wherein said pressure roller member is hollow and apertured and mounted for rolling movement with reference to said tubular member; and a hollow shaft having a portion located within said pressure roller member and having an interior communicating with the apertures of the same, and an inlet opening communicating with said reservoir means. 

1. A cleaning apparatus, comprising reservoir means for a body of foamable material in unfoamed state; converting means connected with said reservoir means for receiving from the latter unfoamed material and for converting such material to foamed state, said converting means comprising an apertured hollow tubular member having an inner side, a pressure roller member arranged in the interior of said tubular member in at least substantial axial parallelism therewith, at least one of said members being rotatable relative to the other, and at least one absorbent element confined between said pressure roller member and said inner side so as to undergo incremental compression in response to said relative rotation; and moving means mounting said reservoir means and said converting means for movement over a surface to be cleaned, and operative for effecting said relative rotation.
 2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said absorbent element is an endless sheet material element.
 3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said endless sheet material element defines a circular annulus.
 4. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, said inner side being provided with an inner circumferential surface, and wherein said absorbent element is positioned on and secured to said inner circumferential surface.
 5. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said tubular member is stationary with reference to said reservoir means, and wherein said pressure roller member is mounted for rolling movement with reference to said tubular member.
 6. An apparatus as defined in claim 1; and further comprising at least one applicator roller contacting an outer side of said tubular element for distributing foamed material thereon.
 7. An apparatus as defined in claim 6, said applicator roller comprising a shaft, and a plurality of tufts of bristles projecting from said shaft transversely thereof.
 8. An apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein said applicator roller is composed of a plurality of axially adjacent disc portions.
 9. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said tubular member is rotatably mounted; and wherein said pressure roller member is hollow and apertured and mounted for rolling movement with reference to said tubular member; and a hollow shaft having a portion located within said pressure roller member and having an interior communicating with the apertures of the same, and an inlet opening communicating with said reservoir means. 